Ali, Muhammad, 1942-2016

Biographical notes:

Muhammad Ali (b. Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., January 17, 1942, Louisville, KT-d. June 3, 2016, Scottsdale, AZ) began training as an amateur boxer when he was 12 years old. At 18 he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics and turned professional later that year. After converting to Island, he changed his name to Muhammad Ali. During the Vietnam War he refused to be drafted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in Vietnam. Ali was eventually arrested, found guilty of draft evasion charges, and stripped of his boxing titles, but successfully appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned his conviction in 1971.